Stephanie
O'Connell | Posted: Tuesday, March 6, 2012 6:05 pm
CHESHIRE
— For 15 years, residents of the Rustic Lane neighborhood have laced up their
running shoes and donned green workout gear to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and
raise money for a good cause.
Runners,
joggers and walkers participating in “Irish Eyes are Miling” make their way
around the mile-and-a-half route to raise money for Cheshire Relay for
Life.
“It’s
very popular in our neighborhood,” said Jack McDonald of
This
year’s event is scheduled for March 11 at noon at
McDonald
coined the “Irish Eyes are Miling” phrase in the 1980s while coaching track at
Relay
for Life is a 24-hour event in which teams gather at a local park or high school
track and walk to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The Cheshire
Relay for Life will celebrate 28 years June 8 and 9.
“We
first started hosting the event to help the kids raise money, and after they
moved out we thought we would keep it going,” McDonald said. “It’s not a big
commercial race or anything. It’s more for the neighborhood to come together and
for a good cause.”
To
encourage some of the slower runners and walkers to come and participate, prizes
are awarded to the first female and male finisher, and
then every tenth finisher after that.
The
race kicks off a year filled with neighborhood fundraising events. Labor Day
Movie Night sponsored by the neighborhood was started to help raise money for
the Petit Family Foundation.
Every
summer a movie is projected onto the side of the Morley family’s home on
“It’s
been over 10 years that we have been doing movie night,” said Katelyn Morley,
14. “Everyone in the neigh-borhood comes, and there’s always great
food.”
Morley
has been running in “Irish Eyes are Miling” for years and says she loves being
able to see her friends from the neighborhood enjoying the outdoors for the
first time since the fall.
The
McDonald family also participates in a charity beach run in the summer to
benefit a
“We
have a great time getting together with everyone,” McDonald said. “And we get to
raise some money for some great causes at the same time.”
There
is no entry fee, but a donation to Cheshire Relay for Life is welcomed. For more
information, visitwww.mcdonaldmorgan.com/IrishEyesareMiling/2012/info.html.
http://www.myrecordjournal.com/cheshire/article_0539c444-67e1-11e1-ae27-0019bb2963f4.html